Pertussis

In a rush to avoid an end-of-the-year reversion back to the federal government, Nevada lawmakers have signed off on a plan that will allocate roughly $207 million in federal COVID-19 pandemic relief dollars largely to equipment costs and salaries of state employees.

With the deployment of Point of Care Machines and an expansion of recent efforts to manufacture collection kits to use in testing for COVID-19, The Nevada Independent once again talked with the director of the Nevada State Public Health Lab, Dr. Mark Pandori, to learn where the state is with its various testing efforts.

Carson City Health and Human Services is reporting an increase of positive pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough, cases in the Carson City and Douglas County areas.

Carson City – A settlement reached with pharmaceutical GlaxoSmithKline and the Nevada Attorney General's Office will give the state's Division of Public and Behavioral Health more than $1 million as part of the agreement with the money going toward immunization initiatives.

Three people have applied for an opening on the Carson City Parks and Recreation Commission. The Board of Supervisors will move to make an appointment for the four-year position when they meet Thursday.
Applicants for the seat have been submitted by Joan Colburn, Lee-Ann Keever and Jennifer Veneziano.

Carson City health officials are urging vaccinations after several reported cases of whopping cough in neighboring California.

CARSON CITY — An outbreak of Whooping Cough that recently took the lives of two California infants, both under the age of three months, should serve as a call to action, Carson City health officials said.

An alarming 219 cases of pertussis have been recorded in California so far this year, up dramatically from 118 cases during the same time frame last year.